Wednesday, 13 November 2013

I'd been wanting to design a new ami for a while. And it had to be a bunny, named Lily. I had the image of Lily in my head. I doodled several pictures of her in margins. I wanted Lily to be a doll bunny. I wanted to make her clothes, shoes.

So I made my bunny. I made her legs, with feet. I made her chubby tummy. I make her arms, her head, her ears. And then I sewed her together. Hmm. I hated sewing her together. I couldn't get her legs on straight. She suddenly reminded me of the first ever ami I published, chubby teddy, who was made in the same way but was smaller and softer and easier to sew together. She was cute, but her legs were decidedly wonky.

I made her a cute jacket. But those wonky legs bothered me.

Since my early beginnings in amigurumi, I have been trying to simplify the construction of the toys I make. I know I'm not the only one who hates sewing pieces together. Crocheting them in as you go is the solution! Of course it's not always possible. It depends on the pieces and how they lie (ears for example can only rarely be crocheted in).

So Lily (with her wonky legs and cute jacket) sat and waited. And I started on Lalla. Lalla is worked from the bottom up. You'll start with her feet, that are crocheted as part of her legs, that are crocheted straight on to her body, then you'll crochet in her arms.

Then you'll increase for her head, then you'll crochet in her ears, add a face, and keep on crocheting right to the top of her head. Lalla is a lop-eared rabbit and her head is round. Some people tell me she looks more like a dog than a rabbit. Lalla can also stand unaided!

I think my third rabbit may well be a mixture of Lily and Lalla (Lila?) She'll have the same one-piece body as Lalla with the same head as Lily.

I'm busy writing up the pattern for Lalla, and I'll also include the options for the sew-on head and ears. It may take me a while because it's a long pattern. I'll include the cute jacket pattern too. I'll post to my facebook page as soon as it's done. You can see another photo of Lily with her jacket on facebook too!

About Me

Hello and welcome to my blog. It's nice of you to pass by and if you feel like it, do leave me a little comment so this blog thingy can be a two-way communication, and I don't have the feeling that I'm blabbing on and nobody's listening.
I try to juggle a full-time job in communications, living life to the full with my family and enjoying crafts and cooking in my free time.
It's my sister Liz who taught me how to crochet when I was about 10 years old, and in March 2010, while recovering from surgery and thus with a bit more free time on my hands, I discovered amigurumi, Japanese for "crochet soft animals" and I've not stopped since! I also sew a bit, mostly making soft toys, which I offer as gifts to friends and family. My other interests are cooking, reading, learning, walking, crafting, and sharing my thoughts here on my blog.